Some properties of the real line

Keng Wiboonton

Theorem 1 Every open set of R can be written as a countable union of mutually disjoint open intervals.
(Zorn’s lemma is used in the proof.)

In general, for n > 1, open sets in Rn cannot be written as a countable union of mutually disjoint open
intervals. (A subset I of Rn is an interval if I = I1 × . . . × In where I1 , . . . , In are intervals in R.)

Exercise. Prove that the open unit disc B(0; 1) := {(x, y) ∈ R2 |x2 + y 2 < 1} in the plane cannot be as a
countable union of mutually disjoint open intervals.

Theorem 2 (Heine-Borel) A subset of R is compact if and only if it is closed and bounded.

Theorem 3 (Bolzano-Weierstrass) Every bounded, infinite set of real numbers has a limit point. (Recall
that a point is said to be a limit point of A if it is the limit of a sequence of distinct terms from A.)

Theorem 4 Every connected subset of R is an interval.

Problems

Problem 1. Let A ⊆ R be uncountable.

(a) Show that A has at least one limit point.
(b) Show that A has uncountably many limit points.

Problem 2. Let E ⊆ Q be the set of x whose decimal expansion is of the form x = 0.d1 d2 . . . dN for some
N ∈ N, and where d1 , . . . , dN ∈ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} (so dj 6= 0 and dj 6= 9 for j = 1, . . . , N). Show that any
compact subset of E is finite.
Can we drop the hypothesis that dj 6= 0 and dj 6= 9?

Problem 3. Prove that there exists no continuous bijection from (0, 1) to [0, 1].